Opening Skirmish

There’s a term called star quality.

If we interpret it based on the meaning of the words alone, it refers to qualities or attributes that can gain high popularity from the public.

That’s what I am now.

An overwhelmingly outstanding quality.

No matter what Levia performs, I counter with more detailed and goosebump-inducing perfect synchronization.

Ashe? Sona? Katarina?

That level of skill is not even close.

Levia’s demonstration receives light applause.

But during my turn, everyone is silent.

At a level where they can only listen blankly, at a loss for words.

At first, the hosts were watching the voice imitation battle between Levia and me with interest, but around the middle, they quickly intervened, perhaps thinking this wasn’t right.

They joke around and gloss over it, saying this is just a warm-up and the main game is separate.

-Life, Redback. Anyone can see she got completely crushed, are you trying to cover it up? ㅋ

-Ah, that’s right. It’s not like they’re fighting mortal enemies, it’s a talent show, so it’s a bit much to leave a participant’s mental state completely shattered.

-Yeah;; The above comment seems right. But really, Hani’s voice imitation is insane. Is she from a voice acting background?

-If you’re curious, look up the Hani guest episode from the old Miracle joint broadcast. It’s even more amazing than what she showed today.

-Hani’s guest episode is legendary ㅋ

The hosts pat Levia on the back, saying she did well enough too, and ask if there are any other talents.

Then with an awkward expression, she says she learned gymnastics and will demonstrate a few moves.

“Then what about Hani-nim?”

“I’ll show you breaking and kicking demonstrations.”

“Oh! I’m really looking forward to that. Come to think of it, Hani-nim was on the news too, right?”

“Huh! I saw that video too. It was really amazing! Wasn’t that game skill? The criminal who seemed to weigh more than me went flying.”

I steal the attention that was about to go to Levia in an instant again.

The hosts and viewers ask about the incident that became the catalyst for my recent YouTube success.

I hear the sound of teeth grinding ‘crunch’.

The protagonist was Levia, smiling nonchalantly right beside me.

She’s quite a vicious style.

After the hosts’ barrage of questions ended, Levia’s gymnastics demonstration continued.

She showed off her flexibility by doing splits and drew gasps from people by doing tumbling.

Shortly after, Levia returns to her original seat amidst applause.

On the way, she glances at me with provocative eyes.

Perhaps those eyes contained a meaning like ‘You can’t do this, can you?’

‘She’s still young.’

I said don’t challenge unless you’re certain.

I take my position in the center of the stage.

This is why I came dressed in high-mobility clothing.

“Unnie, here.”

“Thanks.”

Mia came up on stage with my shopping bag as requested.

It’s time for the items in the shopping bag, which I kept secret even from team members, to be revealed.

“Oh!”

“Thoroughly prepared. This makes me look forward to it even more.”

It’s breaking boards I prepared in advance.

I gestured to call the hosts and had one hold it at waist height, and the other at face height.

“I-Isn’t this a bit high? I’m over 183cm tall, you know.”

-For real, Redback is tall, but she’s challenging that? Since it’s beside the face, is it about 175cm?

-No, it’s not just high, but doesn’t it need force to break too? I think it should be lowered a bit.

-The fact that it’s above Life’s crown is really funny.

“No, that’s slander. I’m 178cm. Don’t push it unnecessarily!”

-Yeah, we all know about the 5cm insoles.

-What happens when you get excited? ㅋ

-Redback is Life-ing. You should admit what needs to be admitted.

“Quiet.”

“……”

I settle the commotion with a low voice.

Mia, who was close by, mutters softly with sparkling eyes.

What charisma… Since it might be dangerous, I gesture lightly for Mia to step back and then draw the movement line in my head.

Four steps to the first target, Life.

For a brief moment, a mysterious energy surrounds my whole body.

The 910 points I unexpectedly had to use when encountering the violent criminal.

That ability is with me now.

“Ha!”

A short shout.

At the same time, I dash to the left.

Life’s round open eyes come into view, followed by the breaking board he’s holding at waist height.

‘Now!’

I fix my stepping foot exactly at the position I drew in my mind and rotate my body.

Hair fluttering like a painting.

My right foot, loaded with centrifugal force, sharply bites into the center of the board.

Crack-!

“W-Wow!”

A back kick successfully executed without slowing down, coming in one go.

Life had a dumbfounded expression at the intense body movement and speed he never expected.

And then he looks at the broken board in his hands.

-Wow, is this a Taekwondo demonstration team?

-So cool, seriously insane!

-Is she a god? Is she a god? Is she a god?

-I’m certain now. I’m confident I’d ‘lose’ in a 1:1 fight with Hani.

-ㅋ Gallery bug… What kind of life have you lived?

-Really, what is Hani’s true form? From voice imitation to singing well, beauty that puts female streamers to shame, game skills… and now even good athletic ability?

I continue the momentum.

Three quick steps forward.

A leap utilizing that acceleration!

The world’s time stops.

Life’s astonished expression and the screams of people around at the sight of me floating in mid-air.

No, are they cheers?

It doesn’t matter.

I quickly rotate while diagonally turning the direction of force downward.

A body spinning kick attempted in mid-air!

Crack-!

At the same time I feel the sensation of my toes brushing, I put my body’s center upward again and finish the rotation.

When I raise my head, only half of the shattered board is visible in Redback’s hands.

Success!

Nevertheless, there’s a quiet atmosphere as if something went wrong.

“Um… Did I fail?”

Wooooah-!

“Ugh!”

A thunderous cheer that feels like it might make my eardrums fall off.

It was everyone’s answer to my performance.

---

Everyone’s performances ended.

And the viewers’ real-time voting that followed too.

As expected, our team took first place.

Second place was Levia’s team, who fought hard for once.

The hosts, with smiles blooming on their faces at the unexpected success of the team selection ceremony, asked which team we’d like to designate as our first-round opponent.

After a brief discussion, we chose the ‘We’ll Definitely Win’ team as per 19girl’s opinion.

“Then the first match next Saturday will be Fighting Girls vs We’ll Definitely Win team!”

“Wooooah!”

Our team name was taken from ‘fighting’, one of the images representing me recently, and ‘girl’ from 19girl.

We named it without much thought, but I’m satisfied as it’s getting good reactions among viewers.

“Now all teams up to 4th place have made their selections. Let’s hear a word of determination from each team before we move on.”

“We’ll go in reverse order for this. First, the Yordle Party team who was chosen last! Please say a word.”

“We’ll make you regret choosing our team as your first opponent.”

“Heh! Your team is the sweetest!”

The order goes around one by one in reverse.

Shortly after, it’s the 2nd place We Won The Championship team.

The team leader Levia stands up and unexpectedly points at me, not their first-round opponent, and says:

“I may have lost in today’s talent show, but… I’ll make you realize the main game is different.”

“Ooh! Is this a declaration of war?”

“We have a story here. The atmosphere right now is amazing.”

It wasn’t just the hosts overreacting.

The tournament participants start murmuring.

The viewers watching the official broadcast were no exception.

-ㅋ She’s crazy. Seems like Levia really lost it after getting crushed earlier.

-Levia’s pride is top-notch. She’s been boasting enormously about being the first female BJ Challenger since way back.

-Is this scripted? Or is it a real situation?

-Levia’s going to get hit once by Hani for acting up and cry boo-hoo ㅋ

-The Fighting Girls and We Won The Championship teams are already ranked 1st and 2nd in win rate on the site, this just got more interesting.

New Continent TV’s official site was running an event to guess the winning team of this tournament with prizes.

Thanks to that, the fan wars between each BJ’s fandom heated up even more.

-Honestly, didn’t Hani’s personality show earlier? She blatantly crushed Levia by saying the same lines in the next turn.

-Doesn’t Hani’s surgery show a lot?

-Wow… They say when a woman is pretty, ‘they’ come to curse, it was true.

-The haters have arrived. Everyone run away!

“It seems Hani-nim should give this answer, right?”

“I think so too.”

Life approaches and asks for 19girl’s permission as team leader, then passes the microphone to me.

What’s all this fuss about?

I stand up and look around once.

The eyes of participants mixed with wariness and curiosity.

There’s a slightly different kind too.

The sparkling eyes of team members and hosts full of anticipation.

I slowly turn my head and stare at Levia, who’s pretending to be nonchalant while looking my way.

And I said:

“Don’t be too heartbroken even if you lose.”

“……”

“Your opponent is me, after all.”

“…!”

It was a splendid finale decorating the Ladies Tournament team selection ceremony.